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FULL TIME: BAYER LEVERKUSEN 1-2 INTER MILAN- EUROPA LEAGUE QUARTER-FINAL ACTION FROM GERMANY

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Full-time: Inter Milan 2-1 Bayer Leverkusen

Inter Milan have booked their plave in the semi-finals with a 2-1 victory against Bayer Leverkusen. Nicolo Barrela and Romelu Lukaku scored as Kai Havertz strike was not enough for the Germans.

VAR Resolution

VAR – penalty disallowed

Bellarabi (Leverkusen) concedes a penalty for a foul on Eriksen (Internazionale).

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Inter and Lukaku look to have the opportunity to put the tie to bed, after the Nerazzurri substitute is brought down inside the box.

+6 Added time

BAYER LEVERKUSEN 1-2 INTER MILAN

SO FAR…

Match summary

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  • Barella fires Inter in front
  • Lukaku scores in 9th straight Europa League game
  • Havertz pulls one back for Leverkusen
  • Winners vs Shakhtar/Basel in semis

Half-time scores

Manchester United 0-0 Copenhagen

Inter Milan 2-1 Bayer Leverkusen

Goals in the Inter-Leverkusen clash

Inter Milan are 2-1 up already in the other quarter-final against Bayer Leverkusen this evening.

Romelu Lukaku bagged his sides second after Nicolo Barrella’s opener, but their lead has been halved immediately by a goal for Kai Havertz.

GOOAAALL!!!

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22mins: Inter Milan 2-0 Bayer Leverkusen

The former Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku has doubled Inter’s lead against Leverkusen. Antonio Conte’s side look well on their way to the final four.

GOOOAALL!!!!!

15mins: Inter Milan 1-0 Bayer Leverkusen

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Nicolo Barrela gives Inter Milan the lead! The midfielder fires his shot from outside the box beyond the reach of Lukas Hradecky.

A slow first ten minutes Leverkusen 0-0 Inter.

No shots on target so far between Inter Milan and Bayer Leverkusen. Both teams are seeming to play rather reserved, not wanting to show their hands too quickly

Concurrently like the Manchester United versus Copenhagen, Bayer Leverkussen and Inter Milan are also slugging it out in a quarter final match of the Europa League.

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Here is how those two line-up:

Inter Milan XI: Handanovic, Godin, de Vrij, Bastoni, D’Ambrosio, Barella, Brozovic, Gagliardini, Young, Lukaku, Martinez.

Subs: Sanchez, Moses, Sensi, Ranocchia, Valero, Eriksen, Padelli, Esposito, Agoume, Biraghi, Skriniar, Candreva.

Bayer Leverkusen XI: Hradecky, Lars Bender, Sven Bender, Tapsoba, Sinkgraven, Baumgartlinger, Palacios, Havertz, Demirbay, Diaby, Volland

Subs: Tah, Dragovic, Bailey, Amiri, Alario, Wendell, Weiser, Wirtz, Ozcan, Lomb, Bellarabi

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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UEFA await Lyon relegation appeal before Palace Europa League decision

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 Europa League - Olympique Lyonnais v Eintracht Frankfurt - Groupama Stadium, Lyon, France - December 12, 2024 General view as the teams line up with young mascots before the match REUTERS/Manon Cruz/File Photo

UEFA has decided to postpone its assessment of the multi-club ownership case involving Olympique Lyonnais and Crystal Palace until the French club’s relegation has been confirmed, European football’s governing body said on Monday.

The multi-club ownership regulations do not allow clubs under the same ownership compete in the same European competition, and American businessman John Textor holds a stake in both Palace and Lyon.

Palace qualified for the Europa League by winning the FA Cup last season while Lyon reached the competition by finishing sixth in Ligue 1 but have since been relegated to Ligue 2 by French football’s financial watchdog (DNCG).

Lyon are appealing the decision, which came following an audit of the club’s finances, and UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body will now await the outcome of the appeal before making its decision.

UEFA and Lyon reached a settlement agreement over the club’s breach of the financial sustainability requirements, and as part of the settlement, Lyon agreed to their exclusion from European competition should the DNCG confirm their relegation.

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League of Ireland club Drogheda United lost an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport earlier this month over their exclusion from the Conference League, after falling foul of the multi-club ownership rules.

-Reuters

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Tottenham sack Postecoglou, two weeks after Europa League glory

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Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou with the Europa League trophy during a lap of appreciation after the match Action Images via Reuters/Matthew Childs/File Photo

Tottenham Hotspur have sacked manager Ange Postecoglou, the club said on Friday, little more than two weeks after the Australian guided the London club to a first major trophy in 17 years with victory in the Europa League final.

While Postecoglou’s fate has split opinion amongst the fans, the 59-year-old ultimately paid the price for an horrendous Premier League season which saw Tottenham finish 17th.

“The Board has unanimously concluded that it is in the best interests of the Club for a change to take place,” Tottenham said in a statement.

“Following a positive start in the 2023/24 Premier League (PL) season, we recorded 78 points from the last 66 PL games. This culminated in our worst-ever PL finish last season.”

Postecoglou leaves two years to the day after his appointment and 16 days after his side beat Manchester United 1-0 in Bilbao for the club’s first silverware since 2008, a win that also put them in next season’s Champions League.

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The former Celtic manager has had to face questions over his future for several months, yet delivered on his claim early last season that he always wins a trophy in his second season in a job

He also took Tottenham to the League Cup semi-final but their league campaign was their worst since 1976-77, the last time the club suffered relegation from the top flight.

Several of the club’s first team have voiced their support for Postecoglou since beating United, but chairman Daniel Levy is now searching for his fifth full-time manager in six years since Mauricio Pochettino was sacked in 2019.

“At times there were extenuating circumstances — injuries and then a decision to prioritise our European campaign,” the club said. “Whilst winning the Europa League this season ranks as one of the Club’s greatest moments, we cannot base our decision on emotions aligned to this triumph.”

Several managers have been linked to the Tottenham job, including Brentford’s Thomas Frank and Crystal Palace’s Oliver Glasner.

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GOOD START

Postecoglou will walk away with his pride intact and a handsome bonus, but his recent comment to fans at the Europa League victory parade that the third season of a TV series is always better than the second now looks hollow.

It all started so well for Postecoglou. He began the 2023-24 campaign by guiding Tottenham to their best start to a top-flight season since the 1961 title-winning team.

That form soon dipped though and despite finishing fifth in his first campaign the momentum had long since gone.

This season Tottenham earned only 38 points and lost 22 top-flight matches. They managed five points from their last 12 league games and the only win they earned during that run was against a Southampton side who narrowly avoided becoming statistically the worst team ever in the Premier League.

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Postecoglou has pointed to a long injury list which denied him the likes of Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Dejan Kulusevski, Destiny Udogie, Dominic Solanke, James Maddison and Son Heung-min for significant periods.

But while it has clearly been one of long-serving chairman Levy’s toughest calls, he has concluded that Postecoglou is not the man to lead the club forward.

“We have made what we believe is the right decision to give us the best chance of success going forward, not the easy decision,” the club statement said.

“We have a talented, young squad and Ange has given us a great platform to build upon. We should like to express our gratitude to him. We wish him well for the future — he will always be welcome back at our home.”

Many fans reacted to the news of Postecoglou’s sacking with surprise, but England manager Thomas Tuchel said that sometimes even winning a trophy is not enough.

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“I feel for every manager and I have huge sympathy for every manager in these moments because I was in the same spot,” the German, who was sacked by Chelsea despite taking them to the Champions League title, said on Friday.

“If the trust is not there anymore then sometimes it’s not enough to win a trophy.”

-Reuters

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UEFA apologises after running out of medals during Europa League final ceremony

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Europa League - Final - Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United - San Mames, Bilbao, Spain - May 21, 2025 Tottenham Hotspur's Dominic Solanke celebrates with the trophy after winning the Europa League Final REUTERS/Andrew Couldridge

UEFA apologised for running out of winners’ medals during the Europa League final trophy ceremony on Wednesday after more Tottenham Hotspur players lined up to receive their prizes.

Spurs captain Son Heung-min and two other players, the last to line up for individual medals, were left empty-handed after their team beat Manchester United 1-0 to win the club’s fourth European title on Wednesday.

Son lifted the trophy without a medal around his neck.

“To our great displeasure, we did not have enough medals available on stage during the trophy ceremony presentation due to an unexpected discrepancy in the player count …” British media quoted European soccer’s governing body as saying on Thursday.

“More team members – including injured players – participated in the ceremony than initially anticipated.

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“The missing medals were promptly delivered to the winning team in the dressing room, along with our sincerest apologies for the oversight.”

-Reuters

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